Fig Facts
Want Them Fresh? Grow Your Own.
By Rachel Foster 8/18/05

In a part of the world where it is sometimes a challenge to ripen a tomato, a fruit native to regions south of the Mediterranean may seem an unlikely subject for cultivation. But thanks to a recent string of moderate winters followed by warm summers, figs have reliably been showing up in local markets. Figs will not ripen off the tree and ripe figs are too squishy and delicate to ship easily, so for those of us who like fresh figs it's pretty much local figs or nothing. Most fig lovers agree that the best way to enjoy this luscious fruit is straight off the tree, preferably warmed by the sun. Why not grow your own, and indulge yourself as often as possible?
Landscape designer and permaculture maven Heiko Koester tells me he is aware of just three kinds of fig that are likely to succeed in the Willamette Valley: 'Brown Turkey,' 'Desert King' and 'Lattarula.' A lot of things go by the name 'Brown Turkey,' Koester says, so buy yours from a reputable dealer such as Raintree Nursery, One Green World or Burnt Ridge Nursery. When Koester refers to the Willamette Valley, by the way, he means the valley floor. Once you get into the foothills, he says, you just may not have the warmth to prevent loss of top growth in freezing winter weather. Fig plants will be damaged (to an extent depending on a variety of other factors) in a 0 – 5 degree winter. An established tree will grow back promptly from the roots, but you'll lose the following season's crop.
Karen Schultz of Sunglo Farm was selling ripe Desert King figs at the Lane County farmer's market in early August. I watched her bite into one of these yellowish green fruit. It had a peach-colored interior. Karen called Desert King "the top fig for Western Oregon," and confirmed that it's the first of her figs to ripen. She was too busy to tell me what other kinds she grows. Desert King is a 'single cropper.' Many varieties can, in the right conditions, produce two crops of figs a year, but Koester counts on only one crop in our area. 'Brown Turkey' is capable of a second crop on the current season's growth, but this will only happen in a very hot summer. (Some cool-climate fig experts recommend removing all unripened fruit from the tree in late fall.)
Fig trees are healthy and easy to grow. Commonly grown fig varieties need no pollination, so a single plant will bear fruit. Koester points out that figs require no skilled pruning to enhance fruiting and will tolerate all but the wettest soils in the Willamette Valley. Morning sun is not enough to ripen the fruit, so place your tree in a warm spot that receives full sun or afternoon sun and also provides some stored or reflected heat (from a house wall or a pavement) and some protection from wind. Urban areas, because they tend to trap heat, offer a greater chance of success. Figs will soak up all the nutrients and water they can find, quickly reaching 15-30 feet high and wide. But they will also grow in relatively lean circumstances, so you may be better off planting your fig well away from cultivated borders. Trees that have become too big should be stooled back to 2-4 feet of trunk. As Koester puts it, the soft wood "cuts like butter."
With light gray bark and large, tropical-looking, bright green foliage, fig trees are very ornamental. They also grow well in large containers. A fig tree is a good choice to furnish an ugly wall, or to shade a patio or ground-floor window. It looks nice close-up, casts a dense, cool shade in summer and in winter the leaves fall off. Trees planted primarily for looks can withstand a good deal of pruning, whether to remove inconvenient branches or to confine to a small space. On a recent trip to London I noticed a hedge of heavily pruned figs at the foot of a retaining wall in front of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, a striking and practical choice for what must be a very hot situation when the sun shines.